It's been a crazy week in the courts, so let's review. On March 31, 2026, President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled "Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections." The EO included several measures to preserve the integrity of mail-in voting. It directed the Department of Homeland Security to cross-reference federal databases to create state-by-state lists of verified citizens eligible to vote in federal elections. It directed the Postal Service not to deliver mail-in or absentee ballots to people who were determined to be ineligible. It also instructed the Postal Service to add unique ballot envelope identifiers, such as barcodes, for mail-in or absentee ballots. States determine how elections work, but the Postal Service is a federally controlled entity.
Democrats were upset on Monday when the Supreme Court found the executive order constitutional. "The Supreme Court has cleared the way for President Trump's executive order restricting mail-in voting ahead of midterms," read the Associated Press headline.
Several state governors, including California's Gavin Newsom and Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro, said they would sue again. Here's where it gets weird. On Wednesday, Judge Indira Talwani ruled that the Postal Service had violated her block on the mail-in ballot security rules. On Thursday, Talwani reluctantly lifted her injunction that blocked President Trump's mail-in ballot restriction order from going into effect. However, the door was left open for states to sue again. Then this happened.
BREAKING: A federal judge once again blocks President Trump's executive order limiting mail voting. https://t.co/8pjqQ5BIeh
— The Associated Press (@AP) August 28, 2026
Same judge.
— The🐰FOO (@PolitiBunny) August 28, 2026
Newsom took credit for saving democracy.
I said California would sue to defend democracy.
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) August 28, 2026
We did. And we just won. https://t.co/BsGgXx53pz
A proposed Community Note to Newsom's post brings some clarity to what's going on:
SCOTUS never ruled on the legality of Trump's EO. They ruled that states had no standing because they could not show harm since the EO had not been implemented yet. Now it has and states can show harm and have standing. Two different situations
You got a TRO.
— Karl Wright (@DaddyWri) August 29, 2026
You are successfully running out the clock. But you haven't and won't succeed on the merits. I know you couldn't care less, Greasy.
They're trying to run out the clock until it's too late for the Postal Service to design and add barcodes.
Democracy for illegal alien voters is not the same.
— Dan Nelson (@IlliniDan2) August 28, 2026
Yes, we know you want to protect all of the voter fraud, you don't have to keep telling us.
— The Southern Belle Patriot (@DanielleA34203) August 29, 2026
You’re defending cheating, not defending democracy. California has constructed one of the most open-to-fraud voting systems not just in in the United States, but in the world.
— ShanePatrickConnolly 🇺🇸🏳️🌈 (@shanepc1) August 28, 2026
A temporary restraining order is nothing. If this is what you have to pretend is a win then your desperation is showing.
— Quentin Kramer (@QuentinWKramer) August 28, 2026
You didn't win shit. Just a delay
— 🇺🇲Salty Texan (@texan_maga) August 28, 2026
Clown
Talwani blocked the government from implementing the order for two weeks.
You got a 14 day pause.
— Rafał Gan-Ganowicz Fan Club (@jpat_jack) August 29, 2026
It isn't over until Ketanji Jackson cries.
You didn’t win a thing. Just like you can’t define what a woman is, you can’t define what a win is. What you have is decision from rogue judge that will get reversed and we will get closer to securing our elections for Americans not illegals.
— Gordon (@1BigDoughboy) August 28, 2026
Democrats fight hard against improving election integrity. We all know why.
— Life is a Liberty Matter (@LibertyMatter77) August 29, 2026
We have yet to hear Newsom explain in detail how the measures in Trump's executive order threaten democracy. After the SCOTUS ruling on Monday, Newsom posted, "Every eligible voter gets a mail-in ballot here — and we’ll fight to keep it that way." So why fight Trump's EO, which ensures that only eligible voters get mail-in ballots?
***